Sky Islands (Record Store Day RSD 2021) vinyl

For his third album, Sky Islands, Jacques Renault decided to create an action-packed set inspired by the classic DJ megamixes that were once a huge part of dance music radio in his home city of New York. It's a simple idea, but one he's executed beautifully. It plays as a continuous mix on each side of this vinyl version, with the Let's Play House co-founder using at as an opportunity to flit between short tracks that variously touch on quick cuts built around rescued disco breaks, heady loop-house, sweaty percussion workouts, proto house, Bobby Konders style deep house and sleazy, basement-ready club jams. It's very dusty and sample-heavy, but that's kind of the point: this is an excitable, energetic concoction that's more about the finished product than the short and sweet individual tracks.

JKriv (Razor-N-Tape), Sune